A Desperate Attempt at Nothingness
by Andreios
Summary: Humor and Romance with a dash of Angst. Add a tad bit of Mystery and Adventure and you get... this! New worlds and new faces along with old foes! *Currently being re-written!* Horrible with summaries, but a good read none the less!
1. Chapter 1

Summary:What happens when the Organization finds that there are THIRTEEN more key blade wielders? rated M for later chapters. (*note* I am currently re-writing this story so please bear with me, mkay? If anyone has noticed, I began this story, what... a few years ago? Yeah. Its been neglected and left to die a few times. I almost never update it. HOWEVER! I felt like this fic had some potential to it and have decided that I might as well continue it. Enjoy reading it and please send me feedback as to how it's going. Cheers! )

*P.S. No beta, so excuse the errors ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the copyrighted material here; they belong to respective owners and are being used in a non-profit manner. In short, don't sue.

Summary: Organization Thirteen has once again failed another attempt at destroying Sora and his friends. But they have something else in mind with the new plan. After having found an old book inside an abandoned library on The World of Monochrome, which had long since been thought to have been destroyed by an unknown ancient battle, said that there was not one, but fourteen key blade wielders. Now, armed with this knowledge, the Organization has set out to find the missing thirteen key blade wielders, corrupt them, and turn them against Sora and the others. Or will they?

A Desperate Attempt at Nothingness

Two black cloaked men walked down a cracked pavement walkway. It may have once been beautiful, stunning even. Now it was reduced to brittle walkways and decaying buildings. One building, however, was still standing. It still stood, trying to retain its former glory though the windows were broken and many of its walls were falling. This was the building that the men were walking towards. This was the Library of Monochrome.

As the men reached the threshold of what used to be the entrance to the library, one of man, a much shorter and skinnier man than the first, which was rather tall and willowy, held up his hand as a motion to stop. "Axel, maybe you should stay outside. You don't do well with books. The last time you set foot in a library, you torched half the place to the ground. I hope that you understand that if you can't control yourself here, I'll have to put an end you your stupidity. Permanently." He said.

The one called Axel gave an indignant snort and crossed his arms over his chest. "It wasn't even my fault! Demyx was acting like an idiot again and threw a book at my head. I had to defend myself. Besides you were the one that asked me to come with you Zexion. It's not like you needed my help with you being a friggin book worm and all." Axel said with a smirk as he jumped on a pile of ruble that stood in front of the former doors, and took off before Zexion could stop him.

Axel's P.O.V.

"Zexion was such a pain. Little bastard could never get his head out of his book except to do the missions that Xenmas assigned him. Even still, he carried around that weird book with him. Lexicon my ass. I bet it is filled with some sort of odd things, like Yaoi or 99 Ways to Be Emo." Axel muttered to himself as he scanned the rows of books in their shelves that now stood in different stages of decay. _'Maybe he wouldn't notice if I torched one of these shelves. They are falling apart anyway.'_ He chuckled at the thought of Zexion's face when he saw all of the burning books.

Stepping lightly from a broken table, he began to summon his chakrams when he heard a swishing. Not a swishing, but more like something dragging on the ground. Turning around, axel listened for this sound again, trying to pinpoint its location. Suddenly, the swishing got closer and something bumped into his leg. Axel gave a high pitched scream and jumped. Looking down, he saw something hairy… and pink.

"Awww! How cute!" Axel cooed. The thing was small, perhaps a foot and a half, and a wide, thin mouth and was covered in thick pink fur. Axel stretch out his hand to stroke it, mesmerized by how innocent it looked when he heard Zexion cry out "Axel, don't touch it!"

Zexion's P.O.V.

Zexion walked around a hall filled with old books that seemed covered in dust gathered from ages past. "All I need is to find this book…" He said to himself. Scanning the rows of books, Zexion dragged his fingers against their spines. All seemed ancient, their leather bound covers cracked and dried to the point where they seemed ready to fall apart with one wrong flip of a page. Zexion continued his way down the hall, gaze never leaving the multitudes of shelves as his eyes cataloged and sorted through the hundreds of books that passed his gaze.

'A…B…C…F? Where is D?" He sighed in frustration. Even in worlds gone dead, books never seemed to stay sorted. "Maybe it's somewhere else" He muttered. Looking around the room, he spotted a large pile of books that had been piled haphazardly in the middle of a large wooden table. Walking towards them, he began to rummage through the pile. "Synthesis for Idiots…Magical Moogles….Destruction Through the Ages…" Zexion Growled in frustration. None of these were the book he was looking for! Then a dull grey cover caught his eye.

"Hello my lovely! This is it!" Zexion practically squealed with glee as he clutched the grey tomb to his chest, intending to make his way back to Axel. Suddenly he stopped and stood still, book in hand. A strange, almost lulling scent wafted past his sensitive nose. It was faintly familiar but he couldn't remember from where he'd caught the scent before. A swishing noise that wouldn't have been heard by an average suddenly disturbed the previous silence that had remained unbroken throughout their search.

Out of the corner of his eye Zexion saw a fuzzy pink thing glide onto the table where he once was searching. Zexion eyed it wearily unsure of how to react. The thing gave a low growl and lunged at him.

Its thin mouth opened wider and wider until it was as wide as his head. Rows of jagged, knife like teeth protruded from it, and a stench of decaying flesh came from it. Beads of sweat formed along his back as Zexion looked for a way to defend himself against the creature. He now knew what it was but the shock of seeing one alive in this day and age…

Noting a large plank of wood, Zexion grabbed it and swung just as the thing attempted to bite his head. With a resounding '_Flump_', it hit the opposite wall and slid to the floor, where it ceased to move. Not taking any chances that there were any more of those things, Zexion ran out of the hall in search of Axel. Running past several broken down doors and into another hallway, he shifted his burden to hold it with his left hand. Cocking his head to the side, he sniffed the air as he searched for Axel's scent of smoke and spices.

Nothing. No trace of a scent except for that of those… things. Their scent was growing stronger by the minute indicating that they were increasing in number.

Then suddenly it was a there! Faint though it was, the scent of burnt wood and spices drifted past his nose from the left that lead a dilapidated sunroom. Running and tucking the book inside his cloak, Zexion bolted into the room. Inside, he saw Axel who was leaning over pile of debris. Who was about to hand the thing its next meal, meaning, his hand.

Zexion cried out, "Axel, don't touch it!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the copyrighted material here; they belong to respective owners and are being used in a non-profit manner. In short, don't sue.**

**Summary: Organization Thirteen has once again failed another attempt at destroying Sora and his friends. But they have something else in mind with the new plan. After having found an old book inside an abandoned library on The World of Monochrome, which had long since been thought to have been destroyed by an unknown ancient battle, said that there was not one, but fourteen key blade wielders. Now, armed with this knowledge, the Organization has set out to find the missing thirteen key blade wielders, corrupt them, and turn them against Sora and the others. Or will they? **

**;) Reviews are welcome and Loved! Don't be shy! I don't bite… much!**

**A Desperate Attempt at Nothingness**

**Axel's P.O.V.**

Zexion cried out, "Axel, don't touch it!"

Axel retracted his hand right before the thing could bite it looking towards Zexion in confusion. The creature looked cute! Covered in pink fur that looked velvet soft, how could it possibly present enough of a threat to jar the normally stoic young man from his normal brooding demeaner?

"It is called a Flumard. I found another in a hall back there, though I think I killed it." Zexion wheezed, "And unless that you want to stay here and find out, fry the thing and lets go." Motioning for Axel to move, Zexion quickly backed out of the room and scanned the outer hallway for any more Flumards. Indeed, he was beginning to catch glimpses of pink from the corners of doorways and the cracks in the walls.

"Sure thing boss! Anything and everything you need, your shortness." Axel muttered, grinning at the face that Zexion made which was between one of vexation and exasperation.

Axel summoned his charkrams, did a little twirl and toasted the Flumard. "So toasty, so toasty …" Axel danced around the now steaming carcass of the Flumard.

" AXEL! You idiot! Stop dancing like some tribal lunatic and let's go!" Yelled Zexion who running down the hall as fast as his cloak would allow him to.

" yeah, yeah, I'm going." Replied Axel as he too dashed out of the sunroom and through the many hallways until he came to the dilapidated entrance to the building they were in. Stalking towards a huge pile of debris that blocked the exit, Axel prepared to begin his climb to the top. However, right before he could climb over the pile to reach Zexion, a flash of what seemed to be blue, or rather blue-black glint of something caught his eye. "What the hell..?" Axel muttered. But before he could get a closer look, Zexion interrupted him and said " How dandy of you to be able to stand there while Flumards drool at the thought of ripping off your ass."

At that, Axel turned around to find that there were indeed, three Flumards who were drooling. Axel screamed and ran or more leapt over the remainder of the pile and scurried towards Zexion and the awaiting gummi ship.

Meanwhile, down on the ground, a pair of eyes watched a gummi ship depart and warp to some unknown destination.

"Flurry, you were so rude to our guests. You know better than to try and eat them." Said a voice that belonged to the eyes. The person's face was not visible, for it was hidden in shadow.

A pale white hand covered in inky black tribal markings reached out and stroked the pink Flumard. The Flumard leaned into the person's touch, a grating like nails on a chalkboard sounding from deep within it indicating that in its own way, it was purring.

**Meanwhile, Back on the Gummi Ship…**

"…And I told him to have everything ready for when we get back to the lab." Zexion concluded.

"Are you sure that you will be able to translate this text, it looks all squiggly and weird!" Asked Axel who was pawing through the grey book. Indeed, it was covered in the strange text that almost seemed alive, as if it crawled from page to page. Axel shook his head. _'I don't see how these freaks can make sense of all this gobble-dee-gook-shit._' He sighed, " What the hell was the point in getting this thing anyways? Doesn't the castle already have a big enough library as it is? Why are you trying to bring MORE books into it? It already looks like its on the verge of collapse, one more book and WHAM! It'll fall."

Zexion glared at him. "For your information, this book was requested specifically by the superior. As to why he requires it, I've no more of a clue than you do." Shifting in his seat to better look at the controls as the gummi ship navigated towards their destination, Zexion gave a weary sigh and continued, "Vexen will help me by researching languages both forgotten and those more common. You would be surprised at how many there are."

"…" Axel said nothing as he stared at a page.

"What is it? Has your brain spontaneously combusted at the attempt to read a word?" Zexion turned to look at Axel, slightly amused at the picture that painted.

"It has …pictures." Muttered Axel.

"What? Let me see that." Said Zexion as Axel handed him the book. The book did have pictures though not of things, rather of people.

" How odd…" Whispered Zexion.

The pictures all showed various sketches of humans, though non seemed abnormal. All that linked them to being related was a single tattoo. It was on different regions of their bodies but all seemed nearly identical.

" How very odd indeed." Zexion muttered again as he scanned the remainder of the pictures. " I will have to discuss this with Vexen as soon as we reach the castle."

***Note* I do hope that you all are enjoying the fic so far I am currently in the process of rewriting it. And allas! No beta to help me edit it. *tearful eyes***

**Please read and review! Comments are always welcome ^^**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the copyrighted material here; they belong to respective owners and are being used in a non-profit manner. In short, don't sue.**

**Summary: Organization Thirteen has once again failed another attempt at destroying Sora and his friends. But they have something else in mind with the new plan. After having found an old book inside an abandoned library on The World of Monochrome, which had long since been thought to have been destroyed by an unknown ancient battle, said that there was not one, but fourteen key blade wielders. Now, armed with this knowledge, the Organization has set out to find the missing thirteen key blade wielders, corrupt them, and turn them against Sora and the others. Or will they? **

**In the Last Chapter:**

The pictures all showed various sketches of humans, though none seemed abnormal. All that linked them to being related was a single tattoo. It was on different regions of their bodies but all seemed nearly identical.

" How very odd indeed." Zexion muttered again as he scanned the remainder of the pictures. " I will have to discuss this with Vexen as soon as we reach the castle."

**Back at Castle Oblivion:**

Axel and Zexion had made it back to their castle. Zexion had gone down to the labs to visit Vexen, a scientist that ranked fourth in the Organization. Without a look back to see where his mission partner was heading off to, Zexion walked into the castle intent on making his way to the castle's basement.

Axel had lumbered off, muttering something about going to see "Roxy" and "Sea Salt Ice-cream" which was unusual. Everyone knew that Nobodies couldn't eat food, right?

**In the Laboratory: **

"This is a very ancient text, Zexion. I have not seen this since … ages ago! Are you sure this is the correct book?" He asked, not taking his eyes off of the pages. He seemed mesmerized by the arcane writing and the way it seemed to loop and twirl along the moldy parchment.

"Vexen, if I wasn't as sure as I was right now, I would have been dead. I thought you said that there was nothing alive on that world!" Zexion growled in exasperation, something that was unusual for him to do, seeing as he was usually either uncaring of what was going on or too engrossed in his work to really care about his surroundings.

Vexen raised an eyebrow at the short, slate haired man. "There was something alive on the World? I thought that it had all been destroyed long ago. Then again, I thought that the whole world had been destroyed… What was it anyway?" he asked, his attention back on the book. He motioned for Zexion to sit.

Zexion sat and placed his gloved hands on the counter where many different gadgets and vials of unknown liquids glowed or boiled. His gaze flicked from experiment to experiment as he hesitated in his answer. "It was a Flumard." He stated. Bringing his wandering eyes to focus on Vexen, he continued, " It was several Flumards. If I could make a rough estimate at the amount, I'd say it was a little under a hundred or so."

Vexen nearly dropped the book in surprise at the unexpected answer. "A Flumard? Those beings had vanished since the destruction of the World of Monochrome's civilization! Are you certain? Did you get a specimen? Oh, how wonderful it would be if you had!" Vexen's eyes shown with a glint that can only be described as manic. To get a real living specimen of a Flumard would be wonderful. If Vexen could feel excitement then he'd be bursting with it at that very moment.

Zexion shook his head, "Sorry, I was too preoccupied trying not to get my head ripped off." He shrugged his shoulders. "No matter. Now that we know that they are alive and presumably thriving, the more important question is when will you be able to decode the book? The Superior will want to have that in his office as soon as possible."

"If I run this through the computers, I might be able to have it done in... oh, twelve hours? About that much." Vexen said, walking to a large computer and typing on some keys. "Perhaps longer depending on how long it takes to locate the origin or the text and having it translated over to our language.

"Wonderful." drawled Zexion.

"Axel, will you get off my bed? I just finished making it." Said a very irritated Roxas who stood at the door to his room looking at Axel who had made himself comfortable on Roxas's bed since his arrival at the castle.

"Dunno Roxy, this bed of your is very comfortable." Said Axel, a smirk on his face. "Maybe you should come and push me off." He waggled his eyebrows. Oh, how he loved to tease the short blond. Getting a reaction from him was always amusing. "From the looks of it Roxy, this bed is big enough for two… if you get what I mean." Axel winked and gave him a cheesy grin.

Roxas pretended to retch and said "Whatever gave you the idea that I was even remotely attracted to you, it is wrong." Leaning against the frame of the door, Roxas continued to gaze at Axel's very green eyes.

"Aww! But Roxy! No one can escape my charm. How is it that you're so immune to it?' "Pouted Axel, sitting up from the bed and walking where Roxas stood at the door way. Looping his hands around the younger boy's neck, Axel bent down to whisper in his ear, "But I know… that you won't resist me for long, Roxy."

Supressing a shiver as he felt Axel's warm breath flutter past his ear, Roxas replied "Maybe if you tried a bit harder at not acting like such a fool, it might have worked." Roxas said, taking the opportunity to shove Axel out the door. "Later Axel!"

With that, he slammed the door in Axel's face.

"But Roxy, I got sea salt ice-cream!" Axel called, his tone whining.

The door to Roxas's room was flung open and a blur of black and blond flung itself from inside to tackle Axel.

"GIVE IT TO ME" yelled Roxas.

Axel grinned at Roxas and handed him the ice-cream. It was one of Roxas's few weaknesses besides puppies and teddies and beating the crap out of Axel on those rare occasions where he was in a bad mood.

Axel reached out to mess up Roxas's hair and was met by a glare. "Don't you dare." Growled Roxas. "Do you know how long it takes to get my hair to stay like this?"

"No" And Axel did it anyway.

A roar could be heard throughout the castle's many rooms and floors followed by a loud crash and high pitched screams and wails.

The resident of the castle were accustomed to the sounds by now and merely ignored it.

_**In another part of the castle:**_

Siax was angry. No, angry was an understatement. He was positively livid. His fists gave off small tremors of barely restrained fury. Or the echoes of it as Nobodies had no real emotion, just the ability to mimic it. However, at that time Siax could swear he felt true rage pulsing through his veins, setting his eyes alight with flames from the deepest reaches of hell. The cause of all this rage? Axel and Roxas. Those imbeciles were at it again. Siax hissed a swear to himself, " Stupid idiots, making my existence more difficult than it already is."

Siax continued down the long deserted corridor he was on, intent on making his way to the Superior's office.

God, the Superior.

Siax rubbed both hands on his face, his anger replaced with another imitated emotion. Irritation.

Although Xenmas was their "Superior" by rank, founding member of the Organization, Siax couldn't help but wonder if the Superior had gone off his rocker as of late. He seemed more… unstable. Less focused on the grand scheme of things and more focused on crushing the keyblade weilder and his companions. Less on Kingdom Hearts and more on the overall destruction of a teenage kid.

Yes, Siax really was doubting his sanity. But who was he to meddle in the affairs of another, especially those of his Superior?

His footfalls echoed along the corridor until he reached a rather large mahogany door. Settling his face into a more neutral façade, he pushed the door open and walked inside.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the copyrighted material here; they belong to respective owners and are being used in a non-profit manner. In short, don't sue.**

**Summary: Organization Thirteen has once again failed another attempt at destroying Sora and his friends. But they have something else in mind with the new plan. After having found an old book inside an abandoned library on The World of Monochrome, which had long since been thought to have been destroyed by an unknown ancient battle, said that there was not one, but fourteen key blade wielders. Now, armed with this knowledge, the Organization has set out to find the missing thirteen key blade wielders, corrupt them, and turn them against Sora and the others. Or will they? **

**Yeah, sorry for the long time without an update. Seems that my parents have been on my ass for a while about my brother. So here it finally is, Chapter four!**

**A Desperate Attempt at Nothingness**

_Yes, Siax really was doubting his sanity. But who was he to meddle in the affairs of another, especially those of his Superior?_

_His footfalls echoed along the corridor until he reached a rather large mahogany door. Settling his face into a more neutral façade, he pushed the door open and walked inside._

**In the Lab**

"No…This data must be wrong." Whispered Vexen from his seat in front of a rather large computer screen. Papers were scattered everywhere, charts were piled on any available surface. In the middle of the mayhem stood Vexen. The tall blond man was clutching a folder tightly as he read its contents, his fingers shaking as he turned from page to page.

"Should this be true, then… it would mean something greater than Kingdom Hearts…Something with power so unimaginable…" Vexen left off, muttering to himself as he stood to reach a device attached to the wall at the other end of the lab. It was one of his very latest inventions, one that he was quite proud of. After pushing a few buttons and receiving a series of beeps in response, he spoke into the machine which he so proudly called his "Voice". The "Voice" being a sort of communication system was wired around the whole castle, allowing its members to talk to each other without actually having to hunt the other down. It came in handy when one was too lazy to summon a portal.

"Zexion, please report to the lab immediately, I have something I have to speak to you about." He said, and hung up the receiver back on the wall.

A few moments later, Zexion stepped out of a portal a few feet away.

"What is it this time, Vexen? I already helped you figure out what to do about the unknown isotopes that we had been studyi-"Zexion said before he was cut off by a very serious Vexen.

"Zexion, the results have come back from the book and you won't believe what I have found." He said, motioning him to the computer screen and handing him the manila folder he had been reading.

After a few minutes of reading, Zexion stood back to look at Vexen. His face, to anyone but those that had spent many countless hours in close contact with the petite man, would have looked cool and collected. However Vexen knew better. He could see how Zexion's eyes showed a shrewed intellect that was processing all the information before him.

Minutes passed until Zexion finally spoke,"You do know that the Superior will probably go crazy as soon as he reads this, correct?

Vexen nodded.

"And that this could spell out a whole new objective for the Organization.

Again, Vexen nodded.

Zexion sighed, "Does the Keyblade Wielder know about this?"

"I highly doubt it or they would have been hunting for them by now." Said Vexen.

"We must inform the Superior immediately." Said Zexion as he formed another portal, "Make a copy of the data and we can go"

"Yes, yes, I'll be done in a minute."

**- A few minutes later -**

"Here we are" said Vexen as he handed Zexion the notes.

"Aren't you going to give them to him?" he asked, raising a brow.

"Are you kidding? He is liable to go crazy if he reads this! Better you than me." With that he stepped through the waiting portal.

**In the Superior's office **

A silver haired man sat behind a plain black desk. He wore the standard black uniform just as the others did, though he now regretted making it leather since it was chaffing him quite badly on his backside.

He shifted onto a more comfortable position and sighed. Before him were splayed hundreds of documents all related to one thing. His long life obsession. His dream. His reason for existing. The thing that he had been seeking before and after he gave his heart up to the darkness.

Kingdom Hearts.

To put it simply, it was a dream so close to being achieved yet so far away and distant that he was close to giving up hope.

The door to his office opened and someone stepped through.

"Sir, may I have a word?" asked Saix.

Saix stepped over a pile of papers and books to sit in one of the many cluttered chairs that were littered around the office.

"What do you want IIV?" Asked Xenmas, eyeing him warily. The blue haired member had been trying to talk to him about something, but he had been too busy to actually have time to listen to what it was.

" Sir, have you noticed the rather strange behavior that has been occurring between some to the members?" he asked, his normally stoic face giving way to lines of annoyance. " I've spotted Axel and Roxas acting rather… How should I put this… Childishly. Groping and man-handling each other, if you get what I mean." He glanced up at the Superior, and frowned when he saw that the man wasn't paying much attention, his eyes slightly glazed and his blinking slow and methodical. Siax gave an internal sigh, _' Damn it! His attention is worse than a human toddler… or Demyx.'_ Heaving another mental sigh, Siax settled back in his chair, grimacing when he felt the crinkling of papers as he shifted. Looking back up, he studied Xenmas's face for a minute. His features, albeit distracted, were settled in a frown. He was always frowning. Thinking back, Saix realized that unlike the other Nobodies, he never really tired to put up a façade of emotions. He just… was.

"Err… IIV are you feeling ill?" Asked the superior.

"Yes, perfectly fine! Why do you ask?" said Saix, snapping out of his mental reverie.

"It's just that… your face is … Well no matter." He said, completely oblivious to his musings. "Yes, I have myself witnessed this childish "groping" and find that it does distract them from their missions. So yes Saix, they will be told to end their behavior."

Saix nodded his thanks_. 'Finally! Some peace and quiet. Perhaps now things will move along a bit more smoothly.' _Siax stood from his chair, inclining his head slightly at his Superior and he trudged back out the door, making sure to step on the least number of papers as possible.

**Good googlymoogly! Re-wrote/edited this chapter a bit. Not too much as the others but enough to make a real difference. Like before, no beta so please excuse any grammatical errors! *head-desk* Gotta get me a beta soon…**

**Anywho~ I do hope that you guys are enjoying how the fic is progressing so far. I do plan to add in some Xenmas x Siax later on, just don't know when. Hmmm… should be interesting. *evil chuckle***

**Please rate and review! Creative criticism is welcome!**

**Cheers!**

**Andreios**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the copyrighted material here; they belong to respective owners and are being used in a non-profit manner. In short, don't sue.**

**In the last chapter: **_Saix nodded his thanks__. 'Finally! Some peace and quiet. Perhaps now things will move along a bit more smoothly.' __Siax stood from his chair, inclining his head slightly at his Superior and he trudged back out the door, making sure to step on the least number of papers as possible._

**In Xenmas's Office :**

A portal opened in front of the door Siax had just walked out of. Zexion and Vexen stepped out both looking slightly disheveled and nervous. Xenmas raised a silver eyebrow at their appearance. "Oh?" he asked. "What, did Axel set the library on fire again?"

Both men shifted nervously. Neither of them spoke and the atmosphere in the office was beginning to become rather awkward. Vexen shot a scathing look at Zexion and elbowed him hard. Had it been anyone else, it would have landed on their side. Seeing as Zexion was quite a bit… shorter… it landed in the vicinity of his shoulder. Giving a hiss of displeasure, Zexion gave a delicate cough and began nervously, "Sir, we have important information we would like for you to review." Zexion said, walking forward and laying a folder on his desk. " This is data we acquired from our last mission to The World of Monochrome. I think that you will find it rather … interesting." Zexion stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest to wait for Xenmas to either die of shock or kill them both for discovering said data.

A few minutes after reading, there was a sharp gasp as Xenmas saw what the data spelled out. He read out loud the beginning of the notes which was the basic summary of the entire folder,

_**The Keyblade Weilders, ones who repel the darkness. Fourteen beings who's hearts had the strength the hold back the evil and not allowing the darkness to come forward and taint the light in peoples' hearts. **_

_**Scattered about many worlds, they formed an impenetrable seal that the darkness could not overcome.**_

_**As time passed and the darkness seemed to wane, the Keyblade Weilders began to dwindle in numbers until only one was left.**_

_**One to hold back the darkness.**_

_**One to seal back the evil.**_

_**One with a heart untainted.**_

Xenmas leaned back onto his chair and stared at the ceiling as he tried to stop the room from spinning.

"If this is true, then where are the others?" asked Xenmas as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"From what we gather sir," Vexen said, looking back at Zexion in surprise at Xenmas's rather calm reaction "each of the other thirteen reside on different worlds."

"And what would those worlds be? " muttered Xenmas as he tried to keep up with all that was being thrown at him.

"Well sir, the ones we know of so far are The World of Illusion, Atlantica, The World of Sorrow, and The Flawed Land." Said Zexion as he raked his fingers through his slate colored hair "In order to distinguish these individuals from others, there are markings on their bodies as well as other … things."

"What sort of things?" asked Xenmas, "And what do you mean, body markings. I've never seen markings on the keyblade wielder that we know of. "

"Not that you can see." Smirked Vexen.

"What Vexen means, sir, is that the markings are located on different regions of their bodies and are not always visible right away." Stated Zexion as he glared at Vexen.

Xenmas sighed "Very well, assign Marluxia to retrieve the Wielder from The world of Sorrow with Xigbar and Demyx to Atlantica with Xaldin. Zexion, you will go to The World of Illusions…" Zexion inwardly cheered. " … With Axel. You two seem to get along famously and it would keep him from distracting Roxas. Roxas will go to The Flawed Land with Larxene."

Zexion's jaw dropped. Axel! He had to work with that brainless imbecile!

"But! But! But!" Zexion sputtered indignantly. "Axel is a complete and utter fool! He will only slow me down. Can I not go by myself? " Zexion was close to bursting. Axel. He'd kill him. He'd shove his Chakrams down his throat and dance in his entrails.

"No, you need a partner for this mission no matter how irrelevant it may seem." Xenmas said, his tone allowing no further arguments "Go and prepare for your mission and alert the others. You will leave in two days." Xenmas dismissed them with a wave of his hand, opening a portal that would transport them back to the lab.

Zexion groaned as he walked through the portal with Vexen. Axel? He had to work with that red headed fool, AGAIN!

How could this get any worse than it already had?

**In the Lab:**

"Axel that stupid idiot." Muttered Zexion darkly, explanatives spewing from his mouth like a torrent of water. " I'd like to see how he works with his legs chopped off that stupid son of a *beep**beep*. I'd like to *beep* *beep* stupid *beep*!" Zexion continued for a few minutes before Vexen cleared his throat, thrown off a bit by the murderous aurora that the slate haired man was giving off. Vexen hadn't known to what extent Axel and Zexion disliked each other.

Now he knew.

"Well… As much as I'd like to hear Axel cursed to the pits of hell and beyond, we're on a tight schedule and it'd be more productive if we began planning now." Vexen said as he walked over to his Voice, passing several precariously stacked piles of papers.

"I'll gather everyone who's going on a mission. You… make yourself comfortable and don't break anything, got it?"

***Author's Note* **

**Short chapter, I know. But I'm working on making them longer! Promise! :D *Innocent face***

**This chapter… was a hit and miss I suppose. Still working out the kinks to the plot.**

**Please rate and review!**

**Much love!**

**Andreios**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the copyrighted material here; they belong to respective owners and are being used in a non-profit manner. In short, don't sue.**

**In the last chapter:**

_"I'll gather everyone who's going on a mission. You… make yourself comfortable and don't break anything, got it?"__?_

**In Marluxia's Rooms**

"I just need to sneak these leaves into a few of Larxene's drinks and the bitch won't be acting so perky anymore …" Marluxia's growled to himself as he plucked off s few leaves from a nasty looking grey-green plant. "She will **PAY** for killing all my beautiful roses!"

'MARLUXIA, PLEASE REPORT TO VEXEN'S LAB IMMEDIAELY! MARLUXIA, TO VEXEN'S LAB. THAT IS ALL.' A voice blared from speakers hidden around the rooms.

" … _Prick. Like hell I'm going to his lab…" _Marluxia thought to himself. "_All he ever talks about is atomic structures this, and isotopes that. Feh! Let him come to ME. Ass."_

Not even a few seconds after thinking this did Vexen's voice drawl from the speakers, _"Marly, I know you're in your rooms. Please come to my office to review your new mission. If you don't come within the hour, I will personally come and freeze all of your beloved plants into frosty popsicles."_

With that said, the message ended with a click.

Marluxia quietly fumed as he summoned a portal leading to Vexen's lab.

Yes, he too will pay.

**Outside Demyx's Rooms**

Xigbar sighed.

He seemed to be doing that more and more these days, though more so when he was around Demyx.

He stood right outside the small blonds room and could already hear the pounding music that blared inside. Don't get him wrong, Xigbar really liked the little blond midget!

He just didn't like how noisy, talkative, and hyper he was.

Xigbar sighed again, and knocked on Demyx's door. He quickly covered his ears and waited.

The door opened and with it came a steady 'BOOMBOOMBOOMWHAAAAA!' of drums and guitars. A small, shaggy head poked out from behind the door. The blond grinned, his face lighting up like the sun when he was who had knocked on his door.

"Hi Xiggy! Do you need something?" Demyx asked.

Xigbar glared and said "Turn that stupid music off and come with me, Vexen wants us in his office."

"Right-O Xiggy!" Demyx said as he turned around and disapreared inside his room. From inside, Xigbar could hear Demyx as he waded into his room that was littered with music sheets and junk that he'd collected from various worlds that he'd visited assigned on missions. Out of all the Nobodies, Xigbar thought that Demyx was the least cold and … heartless. Xigbar chuckled, _'Heartless. Now that's a thought.'_

A minute or two later, a soft "Shit." and thump could be heard from inside and suddenly Demyx flew out of his room. Shaking his head and making his blond locks tumble into his eyes, Demyx looked up at Xigbar and gave another grin. "Sorry that took so long, I kept tripping on my cloak. Ready to go Xiggy?"

"How many times have I told you NOT to call me that!" Xigbar growled and he and the blond walked down the hall.

" But I like it! It sounds cool!" Demyx pouted. He always pouted when he wanted to get his way. Nobody could resist the pout.

Nobody.

"Well, it isn't cool and I would appreciate it if you would stop. Now hurry up because we have to stop by Xaldin's rooms and pick him up as well.

However, what Demyx didn't know was that Xigbar didn't really mind the nickname. Actually, he was growing quite fond of it. But he couldn't tell him that. His ego would never survive. His man-ego would explode if he admitted to it.

"I'll gather everyone who's going on a mission. You… make yourself comfortable and don't break anything, got it?"

**In Vexen's Lab**

"Good, you are all here." Vexen said as he looked about the room. "… No, wait. Where are Axel and Zexion?" He said, looking a bit irritated.

A bang in the back of the room announced the arrival of the pair "We're here! Hurry up Axel, you big oaf! We're going to be late and it's all your fault!"

Several heads turned to look at a fuming Zexion and a harassed looking Axel.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'! Yeesh, PMS much?" muttered Axel, only to receive a swat to the head by Zexion.

"Ahem."

Both turned to face the crowd of waiting members, some of which were becoming quite irritated themselves others which looked vaguely amused.

"As I was saying, you have all been summoned here for a very special purpose."

Vexen walked around the counter he had been leaning on to a table to grab a bunch of files that had been laying there. Each of those files contained information on the world they would be traveling to and what their target might look like, as well as other information that was essential to their missions.

Vexen turned to face the group. "These are your files. Each of these contains valuable information on your upcoming mission. I will now assign one to a pair of you. Please do NOT lose this for it will only be given ONCE. We all know that Axel has killed enough trees by torching the library. Let's not kill any more because you all lost your file papers." Vexen glared at Axel who was busy flipping strands of his hair over his face. He was completely oblivious to what was around him, more focused on how his hair settled…just… so… on his nose when he tilted his head to the side.

"Axel."

If he tilted it to the left… it went up.

"Axel!"

If he tilted it right it went to th-

"DAMN IT, YOU STUPID RED HEADED TWIT! PAY ATTENTION!" Yelled Zexion into his ear, causing Axel to stumble and crash into the floor from fright.

Everyone looked at Zexion with astounded looks on their faces. Zexion never yelled.

Giving an awkward cough, Vexen regained the attention of the room and continued.

"Now, who wants to go first?"

***Author's Note***

**^_^" I kinda liked this chapter… and I kinda didn't.**

**Im afraid that I'm making the characters a bit OOC. *sigh* But oh well!**

**Please read and review!**

**Andreios**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the copyrighted material here; they belong to respective owners and are being used in a non-profit manner. In short, don't sue.**

**In The Last Chapter:**

_"Now, who wants to go first?"_

**In Vexen's Lab:**

"Oh! Oh! Oh! Me! Pick me! Please Vexen, pick me!" cried Demyx as he flailed his arms around trying to get the older blond's attention.

"Marluxia," Vexen drawled, blatantly ignoring Demyx as he did his best to get Vexen's attention. "You seem eager to begin your mission. Here, take this file on The World of Sorrow and partner yourself with Xaldin."

"Awww, but Xaldin is such a drag! I mean, all he ever does is thro-" Whined Marluxia but was cut off abruptly by a glare from Xaldin who had been leaning on a chair in the back of the lab. The whirlwind lancer was not pleased by Vexen's choice of partnering him with the pink haired man either, but at least he had the common courtesy of not complaining about it loudly. "I wouldn't be complaining if I were you, cotton candy man. It might just get you skewered when you're not looking." Xaldin growled.

"Alright, alright! Jeez, nobody can take being criticized anymore…" Marluxia muttered as he and Xaldin trudged out of the room and towards the Gummi port.

"Next up is…" Began Vexen.

"ME! PICK ME VEXEN! PLEASE, PICK ME!" Yelled Demyx who was being restrained by Xigbar. Barely. Xigbar had a mildly irritated look on his face as he dodged Demyx's wildly waving hands one of which narrowly missed knocking his eyepatch off his face.

"Settle down now, kiddo. You'll get picked eventually." He said in an attempt to calm down the younger man.

"Zexion, you already know where you're going. Take your file and go. Please." Vexen said, rubbing his temple.

With a forlorn look on his face, Zexion walked to the Gummi port, leaving behind a daydreaming Axel. _'Twit.'_ He thought.

"And now, Xigbar and Demyx, your assignment is the world of Atlantica. Good luck." He handed Xigbar his file in one hand, the other holding Demyx to his side in order for the young blond not to run and hurt himself on the way to the Gummi port. "Thanks." He said and walked off, lugging Demyx with him.

Vexen sighed as he shuffled to his desk. "Dear god… What are we getting ourselves into?" He collapsed into a chair with a huff and stared at the ceiling. "I just hope… that things go smoothly…"

"Oi." Came a soft voice suddenly, startling Vexen from his musings. Looking around, he saw to blond heads bobbing from a portal that hadn't been there before.

"Sorry we're late. Larxene couldn't hurry up so…" trailed off Roxas, casting a look at a short woman that stood a little ways behind him. Larxene glared up at him, twirling one of her throwing knives in the air.

"Ah ha ha…yes, I see." Chuckled Vexen more out of fear than mirth, "Here is your file on The Flawed Land. Take care." He handed off their files and watched them walk out to the gummi port.

"Hnnngh…" groaned Vexen, slamming his head on his desk. "What was the Superior thinking?"

**At the Gummi Port**

Demyx stood gasping for breath. He had freed himself from Xigbar's grasp and run all the way to the entrance of the Gummi Port, stopping only to catch his breath and look around. From what he saw, two of the Gummis had already departed meaning that the rest of the members had already left to begin their missions. "Awww, man!" Demyx groaned as he made his way to a run-down gummi. "They took all the good ones and now we're stuck with this piece of crap." He gave the Gummi a kick for emphasis but ended up stubbing his own foot. "Shit!" He sat and massaged his foot in an attempt to relieve the pain.

"Now that wasn't very nice, now was it?"Came a sarcastic. "You could have hurt the poor Gummi ship and then it'd never run."

Demyx only glared from his spot on the ground.

"Hey, don't look at me that way! I wasn't the one who decided to kick a two ton Gummi ship." He smirked as he boarded the Gummi. "Now get on so we can get this show on the road, Squirt. I don't wanna sit here all day."

Grumbling about weird old guys and their grouchy moods, Demyx climbed into the Gummi and sat in the back of the ship, slouching into a seat.

"Kids." Mumbled Xigbar as he initiated the guidance system. "Can't live with them, can't live without 'em."

The Gummi ship took off.

"Axel will you STOP FIDGETING." Growled a very peeved Zexion who was mulling over the file given to them by Vexen.

"Awww, but Zex! Im bored!" Whined Axel from his contorted position on the floor of the gummi ship. He had been rolling around on the floor of the ship for the past hour and a half out of sheer boredom and nothing better to do. He picked himself up and trudged over next to Zexion. "I mean, flying is boring. Having nothing to do is boring. Even YOU'RE boring, Zexy."

"Call me that one more time Axel, and so help me, I will entrench you so far into an illusion of the Superior naked that you'll be comatose for a month! Do you hear me?" Zexion hissed, irritation clearly flashing in his eyes, making their usual deep gray glow to a steely glint.

"Ok, ok!" Said Axel, hands in the air as a sign of surrender as he backed himself up to set in one of the seats that were next to the controls. "How long till we get to this world anyways?"

"About twenty more minutes." Muttered Zexion. He was poring over notes that could be beneficial to their mission, and at the same time might not. Finding this new keyblade wielder sounded easy at first glance. However, it was much more difficult than they had first imagined. Zexion hoped that they found this person quickly, wishing to get back to Castle Oblivion and back to his studies.

***Ten minutes - until landing- destination is in sight* **Said the electronic voice of the gummi ship autopilot.

"Great! Finally time for some action!" Grinned Axel, rubbing his hands together in glee.

"Axel, you twit. If you so much as set one thing on fire on this world, we'll be found out for sure. So please refrain from your usual stupidity and act logical for a second. We're here on a mission to find a person who will play an integral part to the Superiors plans. Try and restrain yourself as much as possible and help." Zexion strapped himself into the captain's seat and removed the autopilot.

The gummi soared grew closer and closer to the world. Close enough to see swirls of mist clinging to the tops of very modern looking buildings. Slowing their decent, Zexion spotted a clearing in between two buildings. The gummi ship landed a few paces from one, in what seemed to be a deserted empty lot. The space around the lot was deserted, not a soul in sight. The air was chilled, carrying not a sound. The only thing heard was the sound of the crunching gravel as the ship touched down and its inhabitants climbed out.

Axel whistled. " Nice place. Seems really… interesting." The tall buildings, sky scrapers, were illuminated in a way that caused everything to look sinister. The shadows at their bases seemed to writhe with life, their inky depths still yet contorting with motions and hidden creatures.

"Yes, yes it does." Murmured Zexion. "Stay close Axel. The World of Illusion is never what it seems. Nothing is what it is. Everything is something else, which you would least expect. The World of Illusion… is a death trap for those without the eyes to see through it."


	8. Chapter 8

**In the previous Chapter: **

_"Yes, yes it does." Murmured Zexion. "Stay close Axel. The World of Illusion is never what it seems. Nothing is what it is. Everything is something else, which you would least expect. The World of Illusion… is a death trap for those without the eyes to see through it."_

**In the Superior's office:**

Xenmas paced around his office. He hated pacing. His hands clenched themselves into fists and his nails dug into the leather of his gloves going far enough to sting his palms. He hated pacing yet he paced back and forth in his office, a scowl gracing his features.

" _Why did we not see this before? Why? How could we have been so stupid? Why could I have been so stupid? And blind? With this new found information… it changes everything! The whole purpose of this organization… shifted in a matter of hours." _Xenmas thought. He continued to pace, now becoming further agitated._ " I hope that those that I sent out can gather the beings with the marks. It is essential that they do._

As Xenmas continued to pace, the door to his office cracked open and Saix stepped inside and quietly shut the door as not to disturb the superior. He glanced at him and saw that his intrusion went unnoticed. He sighed and leaned on the doorjamb, content to wait. His deep blue eyes scanned the room and kept stalling at the pacing man.

The Superior. He looked stressed. His long silver hair was mussed as if Xenmas had been running his hands through it continuously. His brow, furrowed in concentration…

Siax felt an unusual tugging in his chest, right where his heart should have been. He placed a hand to the spot, feeling a dull ache. An empty ache.

'_Tch. Must be a sprain.'_ He thought.

"…aix"

' _I must have overtaxed myself while training today'_ Saix mused. _'But… the ache… seems so hollow.'_

"…IX!"

' _I'll have to have Vexen run an examination then…_' Saix leaned further into the doorjamb, now lost in his own thoughts as well as the distraction of the ache that was only intensified as his thoughts turned back to the Superior.

Shit, the Superior.

"VII, RESPOND TO ME THIS INSTANT!" Saix heard the superior bark and stood straight as a board.

" I apologize, sir. I let my mind wander. Would you mind repeating to me what you had said?"

" I asked, number VII, why in the name of Kingdom Hearts were you standing in my doorway? Have you any information of use or why have you come?" Xenmas retreated to his seat at his desk, motioning for Saix to sit in a chair near it, the very same as before.

As Saix sat down gingerly, spewing a few piles of papers as he did so, he explained. " Sir, the reason I came to you was to inform you that both Axel and Zexion have landed on the World of Illusion and that Xigbar and Demyx have landed in Atlantica as well.

Xenmas nodded and waited for Saix to finish.

Saix fidgeted and hesitated. "However… there were complications … with Xigbar and Demyx, sir…"

"What kind of complications?" Xenmas groaned. Anything with Demyx in it was complicated. Hell, just living with the musician was complicated. Breathing the same AIR as him was complicated. The most simple of tasks became complicated with him in it. This could not be good.

" Well you see…" Saix hesitated once more.

"What is it?

" We've lost Xigbar and Demyx,sir. They just dropped off the face of our radar."

Xenmas felt his head become very light, his vision dimming more… and more. The room swirled and suddenly pitched and everything went dark.

Saix looked on as his superior proceeded to faint on his desk inwardly berating himself for having told him news that he knew would cause him to go into a rage, or in this case, faint. He hadn't known that he would pass out cold from it.

'_Good one Saix. You've single handedly killed the Superior.'_

Xigbar looked for a rock. Any rock. Preferably a very large one to hide under until everything blew over. They had landed in Atlantica a few hours ago and everything was going fine. That was… until Demyx decided to interrogate everything with a brain under the ocean, convinced that by asking ( Or in some cases, threatening to disembowel them though it didn't really work with that puppy dog stare of his.) they would sooner find whatever or whoever they were looking for and they would leave so that Demyx could go play with his "Zexy-Kun". Xigbar highly doubted that the little scientist would appreciate the blond bouncing around his study. Again.

Xigbar rubbed his face with his palms and cursed the day that he was created.

After the fourth person Demyx had stopped to ask, they were assaulted by a troop of Atlantian guards who had heard that a pair of foreigners was asking suspicious questions. This lead to a fight which lead to several Atlantian spears thrown which lead to a spear landing in their gummi guidance system, or GGS. The gummi ship still worked… they just had to pilot it manually. This wasn't the problem though. The problem was that the Organization kept track of their members via the GGS. Once the Superior found out they had dropped off the face of Atlantica, all hell is going to break loose.

" Man, this blows! I mean, it's not like I'm THAT suspicious looking, right Xiggy?" Demyx pouted dramatically from his seat atop their gummi ship.

"Demyx…"

"Ya Xiggy?"

"Shut up."

"Gotcha Xiggy! Shutting up!"

" Humph."

"… … … So how long do you think this is gonna take, Xiggy? I mean, all the people that I've asked have no clue about what I'm talking about. Maybe we should go ask king Trident himself, huh? What do you think Xiggy? Huh? Huh? HUH!"

" _Help… me…." _Xigbar mentally groaned, floating limply to the ocean floor and praying to whatever higher power there was that a large shark or whale or whatever would come down and eat him sot that he could just get away for a little while.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the copyrighted material here; they belong to respective owners and are being used in a non-profit manner. In short, don't sue.**

_**In the last chapter:**_

_" Help… me…." Xigbar mentally groaned._

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o

**On Marluxia and Xaldin's gummi ship…**

**Destination is up a head – Arrival time will be in – seven minutes -**

"About time," muttered Xaldin " I'd begun to think we'd never get there." He leaned back in his seat and stretched his arms, satisfied when he heard both joints pop. He turned to Marluxia who sat in the back of the gummi ship polishing his scythe.

"Oi, don't you think that thing is fine as it is now? You've been polishing and sharpening since we left. Don't you think that's a bit of an overkill?" Xaldin said, shifting in his weight to look at the pink haired man.

"..." Marluxia was silent. Something unusual for him as he liked to snark at people, enjoying the reactions that he got from them.

Xaldin sat waiting in the uncomfortable silence. He began to speak again thinking that Marluxia hadn't heard him the first time when he was interrupted.

"Mar-"

"Do you know what manner of creatures inhabit the World of Sorrow and why it is called so?" He said in a strained, hushed whisper. His pink hair shifted to cover his face, partially obscuring Xaldin's view of his profile.

"Errr… no, I don't belive I do." Said Xaldin. He was sitting dumbfounded now. What was wrong with Marluxia? This was strange behavior even for him. Sure, he was odd, preferring to surround himself with plants rather than with people but everyone had something a bit off with them. Xaldin peered closer at Marluxia and saw a distant look in his eyes and something akin to sadness.

But that was impossible. Nobodies were devoid of emotion. … right?

"The World of Sorrow… is a lush world filled with all manners of plants. Only plants. Any inhabitants on that planet should have long ago been consumed by those plants… I'm curious as to why the Superior wishes us to find someone on a world where no one should be living, nor able to live in." Marluxia stopped his polishing suddenly. " The World of Sorrow was given its name after the flora on the planet became … alive. It gained a conscious. It became a thinking entity. Afterwards… it set out to destroy and consume anything that it saw as a threat. This meant anyone inhabiting the planet that grew not from the earth. To find anyone there, anyone alive that is, would be a miracle."

Marluxia set aside his scythe and stood up suddenly. " I can see the world now, we should be landing in a few minutes." He took up the controls and shifted out of autopilot.

" O-oh." Was all Xaldin could utter. _'The plants… are alive? And by alive does he mean…?'_

"Hey Marluxia…? When you say that the plants consumed people…"

Marluxia shifted around to stare Xaldin straight in the face and said, "I meant that anything and everything on that planet is capable of killing us as soon as we land."

"Got it."

That was all Xaldin needed. Killer plants. Great. He could deal with that. _'Chyea, right' _He thought_._ He sat back in his seat, getting comfortable as they began to descend onto the world. _'They should have assigned Axel to this mission. He'd have loved to burn this place to the ground.'_

They began their decent into the murky atmosphere of the world. Large grey clouds, made silver on occasion from the rays of the many moons that orbited the world, obstructed much of the view of the ground. However, what could be seen was an amazing sight. Even by the light of the moons, one could see miles and miles of forests and mountains, every inch covered in vibrant greens and an array of color. Flowers of every shape, size, and color adorned tree tops like delicate butterflies fluttering their wings in the breeze. To anyone this would have looked welcoming and nothing like the death trap that it was. It would have looked like an Eden, a paradise. Death dressed to impress and to seduce.

Leaves rustled as the gummi ship landed on the mossy floor of a small glade. The door on the side opened with a slight hiss which was quickly muffled by the thick vegetation. Marluxia stepped out cautiously. No foolish behavior could be risked on this mission, not if they both wanted to get out alive. Not that Marluxia really cared whether or not Xaldin lived or died. To tell the truth, the guy was pretty dull.

As Marluxia dismounted, he held up a hand to Xaldin in a signal for him to wait.

"Shit, we've been spotted." Was all he could say before a vine shot out of the shadow of a nearby tree.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o

**Meanwhile in the World of Illusion:**

Zexion walked along a dark street. The buildings all looked very modern, very new and clean yet were clearly uninhabited. Every building they had come across so far had been the same. Empty shells, their interiors twinkling in a way that beckoned and lulled one into a sense of security. What lies.

From behind him, Zexion could hear Axel's light breathing, his steps faint and his scent dulled by the smell of concrete. He had taken his words to heart and not said much since they had arrived, preferring to walk quietly as they monitored their surroundings and on occasion asking a question which pertained to their mission.

Suddenly, a smell wafted past Zexion's nose. It was almost like that of rain showers and wet dirt. Zexion wrinkled his nose, _'Dirt. I hate dirt.'_

"Axel, I think I might have a lead." With that, Zexion started jogging towards the scent.

So far it had been the only thing to give off any sort of smell and he sure as hell wasn't going to let it get away.

As he continued to jog, he noticed that tendrils of fog had begun to creep alongside the streets and alleys that he passed. The scent he followed became stronger as the fog became thicker. Zexion stopped to catch his breath, his chest heaving with the effort of trekking through the many alleyways. _'I should have taken the Superior's advice and done some conditioning.' _He thought as he clutched a wall for support. _'No matter. As soon as this mission is over, I'll think on it.'_

"Axel, I think we're getting close. You might want … to get… your… Axel?" Zexion turned around and found that Axel was nowhere in sight.

" Idiot." He sighed under his breath.

He had two choices.

Go back and find Axel or continue on his way to find their target.

Despite the logical choice being to continue on his own and find their target… Zexion turned around and ran, retracing his steps to go find the tall oaf.

" I told him to stay close, but he never listens. This time, his luck might have finally run out."

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**Back in Castle Oblivion:**

Vexen rubbed his eyes as he stared at the computer screen. "Just a little over half of the book to go. Not a bad pace if you ask me." He said to nobody in particular. He stood up, intending to take a break when a portal opened to his lab. From the portal stepped a panting Saix dragging their unconscious Superior.

"What the hell happened this time, Saix?" gasped Vexen. He rushed over to help the blue haired man carry their superior over to a lab table.

"I was telling him about the recent reports with Demyx and Xigbar when he collapsed. I think that it might have been too much for him." Saix said, laying down Xenmas gently, pushing back his silver bangs away from his hair with great care. Vexen noticed this but decided that it was in his best interest not to mention anything about it. Tenderness was not something that was common amongst them.

"You think? Hopefully this news hasn't caused any hemorrhaging in his brain from a burst capillary. Good going Saix." Drawled Vexen, sarcasm clearly evident in his voice. However, Saix must have taken it seriously because he looked slightly depressed, a scowl forming on his face.

"I'll leave him in your care for now. Have you finished any more of the translations? I'd like to finish with this sooner than later."

"Yes, I just finished deciphering about half the book and finding three more locations. I have all three files for them sitting on a shelf near the door."

"Thank you, I'll get the rest of the members onto these right away."

Turning, Siax shuffled over to a shelf that was stacked with mounds of paperwork and three manila folders. Grabbing them, he nodded his thanks once more and sighed as he shoved open the door intent of making his way back to his rooms across the castle.

" He could have just made a portal." Smirked Vexen.

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*Author's Note:

Ive had much fun doing this chapter. I thought it was very interesting to create new places for battles and such. I hope you guys are enjoying reading the fic!

:3 Please rate and review!

~ Andreios


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the copyrighted material here; they belong to respective owners and are being used in a non-profit manner. In short, don't sue.**

_**In the last chapter:**_ _" He could have just made a portal." Smirked Vexen._

The Flawed Land. A world unlike any other; unique among the unique.

It was a trading post for all other worlds which made for an interesting blend of cultures and problems. On the surface, it looked like a prosperous land where one could walk freely. True, discrimination was outlawed on The Flawed Land, but dig a little deeper and you'd find a cesspool of vagabonds, murderers, and worse. There was a reason that the world was called The Flawed Land.

Look a little closer and you'd fall into its cracks of darkness.

Roxas and Larxene were headed there now, their gummi ship approximately two hours from its destination. Neither of them would know that once they reached their destination, neither would ever be the same.

**Roxas P.O.V.**

Tap. Tap.

THUNK.

Tap. Tap.

THUNK.

Tap. Ta-

"Stop it Larxene." Muttered Roxas who was leaning absently on his seat in their gummi ship. In his hand, he clasped a manila folder which contained several notes and a few pictures. He glanced to his left to see Larxene frown slightly, her small hands clutching the daggers that she'd been stabbing into the armrest of her seat for the past several hours. "The Superior will not be pleased to have to replace that armrest. Again."

"Tch. Shut up brat." She hissed, green eyes narrowing into slits. There was no real threat behind her actions, just habit from the constant arguments the organization members faced near constantly. "I'd be more focused on seeing who the hell we're looking for rather than what Mansex will and won't have to replace." She leaned back in her seat once more, turning her head to pointedly ignore the other blond and resumed twirling her daggers and stabbing it back into the splintering armrest.

Tap. Tap.

THUNK.

Tap. Tap.

THU-SNAP!

"There now, silence at last." Said Roxas, a broken dagger laying in his hand. He'd snapped it with a flick of his wrist. 'Ah… I hope these few seconds of blissful silence are going to be worth the hell Larxene is going to give me in three… two… one…'

"BRAT! I will KILL you! Do you not know how long it takes to make those? Hours!" Larxene was now standing over Roxas, her eyes blazing.

'Totally worth it.'

"You better be greatful that Mansex needs us both back after this mission or I'd kill you where you sit." She growled as she grabbed on to the front of his cloak, lifting him from his seat and bringing him to eye level. "Do that again, and I'll shove a dagger where the sun don't shine, kid. Add a bit of lightning and you'll be shittin' nothing but smoke for the next few weeks." She dropped him and stomped to the back of the gummi, muttering to herself darkly.

Roxas gulped. 'O-oh sheez. At least she's quiet now, right?'

Tap. Tap.

WHAP.

Tap. Tap.

WHAP.

Whirling around to look, Roxas saw that Larxene had sat in the back of the gummi and had proceeded to resume the twirling of her remaining daggers and ending with throwing them at a bag. Roxas's bag that contained spare cloaks and supplies.

Roxas groaned.

Larxene's expression broke out into a demonic grin.

**Demyx P.O.V.**

They'd been swimming for hours and now everything had begun to look the same.

Seaweed, corals, large undersea mountains, and the occasional mervillage that they came across.

Word had gotten around fast that two strange foreigners had begun to go around from mervillage to mervillage, asking strange questions and showing odd pictures of symbols, asking if anyone had seen someone that looked like they had that. Due to his questioning methods, they were often chased out of the villages before they could get around to asking much.

That didn't last long.

Five raided villages later and still nothing.

Demyx sighed.

"Whats up, kiddo?" he heard a gruff voice ask from behind him.

Demyx looked back at Xigbar, noting how despite them being underwater, his eye patch and hair had remained perfectly in place.

"Nothing much, just bored. When are we gonna be done with this mission, Xiggy?" he whined, turning on his back and using an oncoming current to propel him lazily forward. His tail, which glinted a beautiful sapphire blue waved to and fro behind him.

Xigbar frowned, "Well, we've only been at it for a half a day at most. Missions DO take time to complete y'know."

"But still!~" Demyx continued to whine. "Im dying of booorrreeedommm!" He dragged out the word in a way that earned him a deeper frown from his partner.

"That's not very mature of you now i-" Xigbar ceased speaking suddenly, throwing himself into a crevice they had been passing by and grabbing Demyx along the way, shoving him into a wall and covering his mouth with his hand.

'What the hell!' Demyx thought.

What came out was more like, "Mrrh wff nuugg!" his muffled voice echoing on the walls of the crevas.

"Shhh!" hissed Xigbar, flattening himself on top of Demyx, his gold eyes scanning the clearing they'd been swimming through. " I heard someone coming towards us."

'Wait, what?' Demyx thought, his eyes moving from the clearing to Xigbar's face which was inches from his own. 'That's why he shoved me in here? Douche.' Demyx struggled against Xigbar's hold, wanting to see who was coming towards them for himself.

"Stop it! You'll get us caught with all the noise your making, damn it!" Growled Xigbar, his golden eyes glaring into Demyx's own blue ones. He used his tail, that shown a pale gold in the mottled sunlight that streamed through the cracks in the crevice the hid in, to wrap around Demyx's blue one and held the smaller man immobile. "Quit you're squirming and I'll let you go. Got it?"

Demyx nodded enthusiastically.

'Too close, too close! Stranger danger!' was all he thought as Xigbar unwrapped their tangled limbs from one another.

Looking into each other's eyes, they came to an agreement.

No noise. None. The sooner the mission was over, the sooner they could return to the castle.

The sooner Demyx could bash Xigbar's head for getting in his personal bubble.

_***Author's Note***_

_**Wooo! Halfway decent chapter, a bit shorter than I wanted it but eh!**_

_**I've decided to change the pairings up a bit. I wont tell you guys who but… ;) I'll let you guys read for yourselves in the chapters that come.**_

_**Please rate and review. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside when you do. :D**_

_**Cheers!**_

_**Andreios**_


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts otherwise it'd be full of yaoi yummy-ness and the Superior wouldn't be as stupid as he is in the game. **

***warnings: Language and maybe some horror? Not sure about the horror ;D Keep reading though!**

**In the last chapter:**

_Despite the logical choice being to continue on his own and find their target… Zexion turned around and ran, retracing his steps to go find the tall oaf._

_" I told him to stay close, but he never listens. This time, his luck might have finally run out."_

**Zexion's P.O.V.**

"Damn." Muttered Zexion as he tripped for the nth time in a disgusting hole that had been hidden under one of the hundreds of puddles that now gathered everywhere in the paved empty streets of the World of Illusion. Zexion had been looking for Axel, _'that idiot'_, for the past three hours to no avail. With the rain that had started almost as soon as Axel disappeared, it had driven away any scents that could have helped in searching for him. Now, wet and cold, Zexion was in no mood to play games.

"How does one go about getting lost moments after arriving somewhere?" he muttered to himself, his words echoing in the silence that was interrupted only by the pitter patter of rain.

"Stupid rain!" he cursed a few minutes later. It had begun to soak through his leather outfit, making it cling uncomfortably and getting in his shoes which made them squelch with every step he took, not to mention it made his hair plaster itself to his head and face. Overall, he made a fair picture of a wet dog.

Zexion continued, eyeing any puddles that came into view warily and decided to put his efforts towards the matter at hand rather than the rain water that was snaking its way down his shirt.

'_What a strange place. No sign of life so far. No sign of Axel so far either.' _He snorted, _' On any other given time I would have rejoiced except for the fact that the superior wants him back alive.'_

'_But still…'_ he thought, _' it IS rather strange that the Superior would send us to a dead world, or one presumed to be dead to find someone. How could they possibly survive? Then again, they are supposed to be decedents of the keyblade wielders and all know how stubborn they are with dying and all that.'_

Zexion continued to walk, stuck in his own thoughts and so failed to notice that the rain had stopped and the fog had once again returned, its tendrils slowly floating towards him in a manner that resembled something sentient and unnatural.

"This seems so hopless. At this rate it'll take days to fi- FUCK!" Zexion was cut off as he tripped. Again.

"Stupid holes! I swear to everything and anything that is holy that I will crush yo… what…?" he looked down to examine the hole he presumed had been the reason he'd tripped to find… fog?

The fog had wrapped itself around one of his slim ankles, firmly holding him despite seemingly being made of nothing but water vapor. It slithered around his foot for a moment before quickly climbing up his leg and soon his torso as well. It encircled his waist and jerked him into the air. His body was quickly slammed back into the ground, his skull making a resounding CRACK! On the pavement.

"… the hell?" was the last thing he muttered before he blacked out.

**Axel's P.O.V.**

Pain. Pain was all he registed. Or at least what he assumed was pain. Being a nobody, he never really FELT things, just assumed they were there. At the moment, his mind registered an annoying throbbing that he usually only knew was there when he was fighting with Sora and his idot friends or sparring with his fellow organization members… and losing.

"Uugh." Axel moaned, lifting his head from his pillow.

Wait, pillow? Last he remembered he'd been walking behind Zexion when he'd felt something wrap around his neck, choking him…. Where was he now? From where he lay, he could make out nothing but darkness.

Wait, his eyes were still closed. Axel groaned once more, this time at his stupidity.

Prying his eyes open, Axel hissed when light pierced his eyes, displeasure causing a grimace to adorn his features.

"Awake already? My, my… we have a strong one on our hands now, don't we?"

Axel whipped his head around after hearing that voice but regretted it instantly, his vision swirling with a multitude of black dots.

"Now, let's have none of that! You'll just further agitate yourself!" A pair of pale slim hands came into view amidst the black dots swimming in his vision. They grabbed onto his shoulders with surprising strength and pushed him back down onto the mattress he lay in. "Rest. You'll need your energy."

"Fuck… you…!" Panted Axel in between breaths. Despite his best efforts, his lids sank lower and lower until he looked up to see who was holding him down.

All he could make out was a large grin, pale face, and inky black tribal markings before darkness once again claimed him.

**On the World of Sorrow:**

If Xaldin's jaw could hit the floor, it'd be lying there right now. The scene before him was completely unexpected. They'd just landed moments before, Marluxia taking the lead and motioning for him to wait. An instant later, he'd heard the pink haired man curse as what looked to be vines shot out of the dark shadow of a nearby tree, completely cocooning him up to his neck.

However, that wasn't what made Xaldin so surprised. The real surprise was that the foliage wasn't trying to kill him but rather seemed to be… snuggling? No, that wasn't right. More like embracing him.

Xaldin shook his head and a grin broke out in his face as Marluxia struggled in the plant's too-close-for-comfort affections.

"Don't just stand there, Xaldin! Do something!" cried out Marluxia as he attempted to free one hand to summon his scythe.

"But just look at them, Marly! They adore you!." Snickered Xaldin, his dreadlocks shaking from his attempt to contain his laughter. "I thought you said these plants were deadly. Now it seems we're more likely to die by a suffocating hug than dismemberment or worse."

Marluxia shot a glare at the dark man who was leaning on the entrance of their gummi ship. "I don't know why they're reacting like this. All previous records of the flora on this world stated that it reacted aggressively and was hostile to any who intruded upon their land." He resumed his wiggling and soon popped one arm free. He used his arm to summon his scythe and made quick work of the vines imprisoning him. Although he detested having to cut them down, they were in the way of his mission. They had to go.

"You could have helped me. Jerk." Marluxia growled in between deep breaths. Having his chest constricted had begun to leave him light headed.

Xaldin shrugged, "You seemed to have handled the situation well enough." He moved from the gummi entrance and leaped down on to the mossy floor of the clearing. "Now then. Let us begin our mission, shall we?"

Marluxia straightened and nodded his agreement. "From what I gleaned from the notes Vexen gave us, the last known established base camp was a few miles from here. I believe it would be best if we started there."

Xaldin grunted and began walking into the forest, not looking back to see whether or not Marluxia followed.

"Xaldin", Marluxia drawled. "The base camp is in the opposite direction. You're going the wrong way."

"I knew that."

**Back in Castle Oblivion:**

His head felt like it was being used as a punching bag, pain throbbing in his temples. He tried to crack open his eyes, but the light from the room shot little spears of pain through his corneas so he decided that he might as well keep them closed. However, the infernal beeping and dripping as well as the rustle of papers that was echoing in his office was not helping lessen the pain in his head in the least.

The superior sighed and turned on the metal gurney where he lay, looking for a more comfortable position to rest.

'Wait, a metal gurney? Since when did I have one of those in my office?'

The superior shot up, regretting his actions instantly as his head began to pulse worse than before. Bringing both hands up to his eyes, he rubbed his face in hopes to dissipate the sensations in his head.

"Ah… I don't think you should be trying to get up yet, Superior. You took quite a shock, so you might want to take a bit more of a rest so you can recover fully." Came Vexen's familiar voice from somewhere to his right.

The light shuffle of feet was soon accompanied by the feeling of a cool hand press onto his forhead as Vexen came over to tend to the Superior. Although he was not a doctor, Vexen did have the common sense to know that stress induced unconsciousness was not a pretty thing to recover from. Right now, he could be that the Superior was suffering from one hell of a migrane. His suspicions were confirmed as Xenmas let out a low moan as he lifted his hands from his face, exposing his bloodshot eyes to the bright light of the underground laboratory.

"What the hell happened?" Xenmas growled, his eyes squinting to better adjust to the sudden brightness. "Last I remember, I was in my office when Saix entered to inform me about the missions… Oh, shit." Xenmas clapped his hands back on his head, another wave of pain rolling over him as the previous days events came back in a rush.

Demyx and Xigbar were missing in Atlantica.

Demyx and Xigbar were missing in Atlantica during a very important mission.

Demyx and Xigbar were as good as dead when they got back. IF they got back.

Xenmas let out a low moan again and flopped back onto the gurney, wincing when his head made contact with the hard surface through the thin lab coat that had been placed to cushion his head while unconscious.

"Im going to kill those fools, I swear."

Vexen only shook his head in pity and walked back to resume his work on deciphering the foreign text.


End file.
